Various treatment procedures are known which make use of an adsorber. Adsorber therapies are innovative treatment procedures which remove pathogenic substances from the patient's blood outside the body. LDL cholesterol, for example, can be removed from whole blood with LDL apherase. Immunoadsorption, for example, allows antibodies to be removed from the patient's blood.
Known adsorbers have an adsorber housing which is densely packed with an adsorbent. The adsorber housing is generally a hollow cylindrical housing which is closed off at the top and bottom ends. The housing has an inlet at the top end and an outlet at the bottom end. A screen arranged upstream of the outlet stops the adsorbent from escaping from the housing.
Sterilization of the adsorber housing filled with the adsorbent is performed by means of high-energy ionizing radiation, such as α, β, or γ radiation, with sterilization by β radiation being preferred. However, if it is of too high an intensity this high-energy radiation may damage the adsorbent. It is therefore important for the intensity of the radiation to be sufficient for sterilization but for the radiation not to be of too high an energy, to prevent the adsorbent from being damaged. The intensity of β radiation is reduced by absorption in the adsorbent, there being a considerable decrease in the intensity of the radiation as the beam path becomes increasingly long. The energy loss of the particle radiation first increases per wavelength unit during the path covered by the particles, then falls abruptly after a maximum. The energy loss per wavelength unit is described by the Bragg curve.
It is proving to be a disadvantage in practice that, due to their geometrical dimensions, the known adsorber housings require a relatively high intensity of radiation to ensure that the adsorbent is sterilized even in the innermost region of the housing. On account of an excessively high radiation intensity at a layer depth around the maximum of the Bragg curve, however, there is the risk of damage to at least a part of the absorbent. To date, this problem has been solved by drying the adsorbent, because the depth of penetration of ionizing β radiation is greater in dry material than in wet material. However, this procedure calls for the additional step of drying in the procedure, which also involves the consumption of additional energy.
Known from United Kingdom Patent Publication No. 1 GB 655 198 is a method and an apparatus for the irradiation of thin films of liquid. The known apparatus comprises a rotating cylinder over the wall of which the liquid to be irradiated flows. The principle of the sterilization of thin layers by radiation is also known from PCT Publication No. WO 2007/075931 A1.
The above-mentioned problems arise not only in the sterilization of an adsorbent in an adsorber housing but also in the sterilization of other materials sensitive to radiation which are to be made available in a container, such for example as medications for infusion but also nutrients.
The object underlying the present invention is therefore to specify a simplified method of sterilization in which the risk of damage to the material to be sterilized, which may in particular be an adsorbent, does not exist.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for sterilization by which sterilization is simplified without there being any risk of the material to be sterilized, which may in particular be an adsorbent, being damaged.
These objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention by virtue of the features of the embodiments of the present invention described herein.